Phethoho News is a bilingual Small Commercial publication, full-colour tabloid
newspaper which was first published in 2008 with a content breakdown of 60%
Sesotho and 40% English. The company has tapped into a neglected niche market
Sesotho-speaking communities and turned it around for lucrative business.
The project distributes 15 000 copies per month in the Thabo Mofutsanyane District
Municipality, since there are no other black-owned newspapers covering the area
which is predominantly Sesotho-speaking. The newspaper is used as a
developmental tool that disseminates information that serves different purposes to
communities.
The publication carries news about career guidance, lifestyle, and health issues as
well as encouraging a culture of reading and addressing the imbalances of
information flow within the Thabo Mofutsanyane District Municipality where the
majority (82%) of the community speaks Sesotho. The project also promotes pride in
the Sesotho language and culture and thus, restores the human values of the
population within the Municipality.
The project is in line with the Media Development and Diversity mandate which
seeks to promote ownership of media by historically disadvantaged communities, as
stipulated in section 3 (i) of the Media Development and Diversity Act 2002. The
project prides itself on being able to create a strategic partnership with local
community radio stations, Setsoto FM, which covers Ficksburg, as well as Dihlabeng
FM, and QwaQwa FM. The strategic partnership with local community radio stations
allows Phethoho News access to live slots where marketing the newspaper happens
live on Radio. The newspaper then conversely offers a quarter of a page to market
radio activities in every issue. The newspaper also works with various organisations
including NGOs and political parties to spread important information about events
and other community activities.